The Iron Knight
by CarnagexElite
Summary: Ruthless and militaristic, Atlas pursues ever greater technologies in the fight against the Grimm. A chance anomaly grants one young man the ability to rival Atlas' greatest creations, and with this ability comes the awareness that in many ways, the Grimm are a relatively simple adversary, regardless of their power.
1. Chapter 1

The Iron Knight

Somewhat of a crossover, but more a crossover of ideas than anything else, so its not going in the crossover section. Also, it's a little bit AU. Don't own any rights to Marvel or RWBY. Know that 'bad home life' is a bit of a Jaune cliché, but it opens up writing opportunities.

xxxx

"Sir, it's happened again."

"Again?! That's the third time this week."

"Leaving the device turned on overnight tends to result in 'it,' sir."

"Do I detect a hint of sass?"

"Of course not sir, merely observation."

"Right, well, where is it this time?"

"Just on the edge of-"

"The desk where I just knocked something into it. Damn. What did I just toss into the anomaly?"

"A flash drive sir."

"What was on it?"

"It contained the updated plans for the Mk XIII sir."

"Phew, that's no big loss then, I never would have used that design myself, plus it's all up here."

"Of course it is sir."

"You know, I swear I never programmed such a high level of sarcasm…"

xxxx

 _(South-East of Vale, a walled coastal town named Inspire.)_

"Ow."

Jaune Arc looked down at the thing that had just bounced off his head. The fourteen year old blond looked at his bedroom ceiling, then back at the odd little device. There was nothing on his ceiling, begging the question of where the thing had come from.

Shrugging away the anomaly, Jaune turned his bedside lamp on to better inspect the object than by the light of his videogame.

It looked a little like a Scroll Card, or SC for short, the storage device for the all purpose mobile tool, though it was a little blockier and had a different connection than the SC.

Considering that, as far as he knew, all tech was standardised so most anything could work with anything, the appearance of a device that apparently wasn't and therefore didn't was rather odd.

Jaune was a teenager defined by an ambition, the desire to be a Huntsman. There were… obstacles, however, to reaching that goal.

Without guidance, he found himself pouring his focus into random things. The things he wanted to focus on were, unfortunately, out of his reach, such as physical training, lessons on Grimm, Aura and Dust usage for combat, as well as combat school enrolment.

Therefore, when an odd electronic device dropped in his lap, a spark of curiosity, fuelled by simmering frustration and desperation as deadlines drew ever closer for his desired life career, enveloped Jaune Arc.

Thankfully, he already knew a bit about electronics and tech, it came with being somewhat of an avid gamer and feeling highly restricted in life. When stuck indoors, it was fun to tinker with his scroll settings, and then with its insides, and so on.

So, Jaune opened his cupboard and retrieved his small tool kit. Using the tools, he was able to carefully pry the device apart and get a look at its internal workings.

Jaune pretty much knew what he was looking at when it came to electronics, and while most of the internals of the, what he assumed was a data storage device, were familiar enough, the fact that there was no Dust receptacle baffled him, not to mention he wasn't sure what some of it was actually made of.

However, despite the odd shape he was sure he could fashion a makeshift connection to his scroll, and it was as he was about to go to his box of 'stuff' at the end of his bed to retrieve the necessary parts that he was interrupted.

"Jaune, it's nearly one in the morning, you might wanna keep it down before you wake Kelly," a feminine voice whispered softly to him. Jaune turned to the only member of his family that he really got along with, Morrigan Arc, six years older than him and the third oldest sister of his female siblings.

The Arc family had a long and prestigious history as Huntsmen and Huntresses. Unfortunately, that had somewhat gone to his family's heads. James and Gail Arc, Jaune's parents, were… difficult to live with.

Gail married into the Arc family for the prestige, and far as Jaune was aware had only had so many kids because his father, James, couldn't keep it in his pants, or use protection.

Above him and Morrigan were the two oldest children, identical twins, Kelly and Jade Arc. Both had inherited the narcissistic nature of their mother and the arrogance of their father. Unfortunately, this meant that James and Gail trained them extensively, seeing themselves in the pair.

This also meant they were strong enough to abuse their younger siblings as much as they liked. Nothing overt, but none of the rest of the Arc family had the strength to stand up to them.

Next in line were Morrigan and himself. Both of them seemed the complete opposite of their parents. Morrigan was kind and caring, and after being rejected time and again from becoming a Huntress, owing to her kind nature making her unfit for the job (apparently), she had focused her efforts on becoming a nurse.

Jaune didn't think anyone could do a better job.

Likewise, Jaune was the only son, and being kind and not absurdly naturally talented was considered a disappointment. Better that he be blocked from doing anything that would put him in the spotlight, like attend a Hunter school, than suffer the shame of raising such a bleeding heart.

Below him were another set of twins. Nadia and Hannah were, to put it bluntly, weird. They kept to themselves, dyed their hair black, wore dark makeup, rings and piercings, and were almost never at home. Despite being thirteen, they could pass for seventeen, and often did.

Jaune and Morrigan had tried to be role models for them, Morrigan more than him, but the two were a mystery unto themselves, and by now Jaune and Morrigan just left them alone.

Then there was nine year old Freya and six year old Lisa. While Lisa still maintained some of her childish nature, the two of them took far too many cues from Kelly and Jade for Jaune and Morrigan to consider investing too much time in them.

"Shit, thanks Morri, goodnight."

"Goodnight Jaune."

xxxx

"Mr Arc! Pay attention."

Jaune snapped up, eyes focusing on the teacher standing at the front of the class. Miss Grant wasn't a bad teacher, but Jaune had had trouble focusing all day.

He had an endless desire to get back and begin delving into that odd data storage device, and it had consumed him all day.

"For the last time Mr Arc, I asked you to tell me what type of electromagnetic wave scrolls use for communication?"

"Oh," Jaune said, "that's radio waves," he answered, not even realising that he had been asked because no one else knew. Atlas was the centre of technology on Remnant, and few were those capable of telling you even the basics of how most lightning Dust based tech worked in that Kingdom, let alone on Vale.

There was a very large focus on fire Dust, culturally speaking, seeing as it was used primarily in weapons for fighting the Grimm, and vehicles for escaping the Grimm.

"Correct," the teacher said, looking somewhat surprised. Miss Grant looked at the rest of her bored class, and decided to see how much more Mr Arc knew, seeing as he answered so nonchalantly.

"Mr Arc, what are the other electromagnetic frequencies?"

"Oh um, in order, that's microwaves, infra-red light, visible light, ultraviolet light, x-rays and finally gamma rays," Jaune answered, not having any idea what lesson they were on and not even really focusing on his answers.

"How about something a little different?" A distracted nod of assent. Most of the class were now looking at Jaune, who before was somewhat of an outcast, like he had grown a second head.

"What can you tell me about lightning Dust and how scrolls work, including how their communication works?"

What followed was a concise and in-depth explanation of electronics and communication logistics that even went somewhat over Miss Grant's head.

"Wow! Mr Arc, how on Remnant do you know all that?"

It was only upon that exclamation from the teacher that Jaune finally reappeared in the here and now, and realised that he had just poked his head above the water.

One of the creeds Jaune kept to was to keep his head down. Don't attract attention. Attention leads to Kelly, Jade, James and Gail… disciplining him for drawing attention to his uselessness.

"Umm, lucky guess?"

Inspire is not a small village, and is in fact nearly a city in size and importance, being the main port onto the Vale continent from Mistral. As such, there is a lot of oversight in the civilian sector.

Miss Aisha Grant was not just a young teacher at a local comprehensive in an urban area, she was also a trained first aider, a first responder, and a counsellor.

As such, she had taken notice of the fact that Jaune Arc, of the prestigious Arc family, had very little presence, unlike the rest of his family. He always wore long sleeved shirts and jumpers, he wasn't very active physically, he sometimes didn't have lunch, he was rarely picked up from school, or dropped off, the list went on.

Those things, while red flags, together could all be coincidence. However, thanks to Jaune's distraction, he had revealed that he had advanced knowledge of a subject that should place him at the top of the school, and possibly in clubs and competitions on a national level.

The fact that he had, without question, purposefully hidden such knowledge, spoke of a pathological need to stay under the radar as opposed to most children's and teenager's desire to show off.

That, along with all of the other flags, was the final piece she needed to finally make a move.

xxxx

"Mr Arc, if you could stay after class."

It wasn't a question, that much was obvious, and yet Jaune felt like risking Miss Grant's wrath and booking it; he was still intensely curious about his new project.

Eventually however, he capitulated to his teacher's harsh stare.

"What's up miss?" Jaune asked with a smile. Morrigan always said that he just needed confidence.

"Are you aware that there is a science and technology club after school on Thursdays?" Aisha opened, knowing that these could be delicate situations for anyone, let alone young people who lacked the experience to really cope with some things.

"Yeah," Jaune answered, not really sure what the teacher was getting at.

"Have you ever thought of going to it? Why not?" Aisha asked upon Jaune shaking his head.

"Never really interested me," he lied through his teeth. Aisha wondered how he could tell such a straight-faced lie so effortlessly, considering the fact that nobody could answer like he did without being sufficiently interested in the subject.

"I see. Well why don't you give it some thought anyway, maybe give it a taster session. You might enjoy it, you might even get a mention in the school newspaper if you do as well as you did with me today."

And there it was! Despite what he might have thought Jaune was only fourteen and not as subtle as he liked to think. Aisha could clearly see what two thoughts went through Jaune's mind at those words; boredom and then fear.

The boredom was obvious; even the leader of the science and tech club wouldn't know as much about how scrolls work, so Jaune likely outclassed those people. The fear even more so, since it suggested her suspicions were correct.

Jaune was afraid of recognition, of attention. In anyone else it might have been innocuous, but for a member of the Arc family, it wasn't just a red flag, it was a blaring red light with sirens.

The Arcs were essentially the highest class family in Inspire; upper class both through breeding and achievement. Class structure meant much less in Vale than it did Atlas, but it still existed.

The Arcs were known socialites, so for their son to be afraid of attention was odd in and of itself. Add in the fact that Jaune could be a little clumsy, obviously held a high amount of supressed interest in a subject, and most importantly wasn't currently enrolled in a Hunter training school, meant Jaune was scared of earning his parents' attention.

"Enjoy the rest of your day."

Aisha watched as Jaune strolled out of the classroom, tripping over his own feet on the way; he had shot up in the last few months, and looked to still be growing.

xxxx

Jaune grabbed a sandwich and hid away in his room, finally able to get back to the storage device. He had been going over it in his head all day and had what he thought was a viable connection.

Hours passed as he tinkered away, until, finally, he had a way to access the device with his scroll.

The data was unreadable on basic Scroll functionality, but with a few handy programs he had downloaded he was able to piece together some of the data inside the device.

Jaune was gobsmacked at what he could decipher. The sheer amount of data on the device was huge, beyond anything a simple SC, which was almost as physically big, could possibly store, except maybe the most advanced military versions from Atlas.

Some of the data consisted of pictures, so Jaune decided to compile those first, since they would probably give him a good idea of what was on the device.

He watched the progress bar as the data for the first picture was compiled. Just as it hit 99% a voice rang outside his room which caused him to shut his Scroll and shove the device in his pocket.

Jade Arc opened the door a moment later. "You alright little bro?" She asked with a winning smile, walking towards Jaune with a relaxed air.

"What do you want?" Jaune asked her coldly, causing her faux warm persona to fade into her usual bitchy sneer.

"You didn't offer to make me any food when you made your sandwich, that's rather rude I think," she griped, staring at Jaune maliciously.

"I-" was all Jaune got out before, faster than he could blink, his sister's fist was nearly causing him to puke up the sandwich in question.

"Well, it was only a sandwich, so I guess that'll do for punishment," Jade hummed to herself as she walked out of the room.

"Bitch," Jaune muttered to himself as he got to his knees, only for his eyes to widen to see his sister's furious face in front of his.

The last thing he saw was his sister's foot coming for his head before he was knocked unconscious.

He came around to darkness, meaning he had been out for at least a few hours. A cold cloth dabbed at the side of his head, which throbbed painfully.

"Thanks Morri," Jaune croaked to the darkness, sipping at the water that was placed at his lips.

"You're welcome as always Jaune, but you need to watch your mouth, this one was quite bad," the kindest member of the Arc family whispered to him.

"I know, it's just…"

"I understand. Just a few more years, and then I'll have a full nursing license and be able to afford a place for both of us. Eyes on the prize Jaune," Morrigan advised him. That was her way of coping, Jaune knew, to keep looking to that moment of freedom.

For Jaune it was harder, since his way out was constantly and sometimes violently denied from him.

Once Morrigan was gone and the throbbing in his skull had subsided somewhat, Jaune remembered what he had been doing before Jade interrupted him.

To his glee, his Scroll's program had been running in sleep mode, having compiled more than just the one picture from the data.

Jaune opened the first picture, and couldn't believe his eyes. It was a design, a design for a set of armour he had never seen the likes of before. Rather than being made of plate metal, or lightweight metal fibres sewn into clothing, it was a full bodysuit with hundreds, if not thousands of interlocking parts, looking like a futuristic knight, all sharp edges and streamlined dynamics.

The next picture showed weapon designs, ways for the weapons to fit into the armour, and other utility designs. His eyes bugged out of his head when he saw that the designs would theoretically enable the thing to FLY!

What he didn't understand was how the suit was powered, or controlled. It would take an immense amount of processing power and data storage, not to mention lightning fast memory retrieval and processes, to control the suit as innately as it looked designed, that is basically to the pilot's will.

As for how it was powered, Jaune had a good idea that it was designed around the glowing circle in the middle of the armour, which to him just looked like a glaring weak point. Why put the power source there for everyone to attack?

Either way, there was still a lot of data to go through on this device. The answers would show themselves in time, he was sure.

He didn't even realise that the feeling in his chest was a resurgence of hope, for his dreams, and for his freedom.


	2. Chapter 2

The Iron Knight

Disclaimer: See chapter 1.

xxxx

After some intense research, Jaune could only conclude one thing; the armour was powered by a type of reactor that didn't run on Dust, but instead on a completely synthesised metallic element.

Without access to some high grade and expensive equipment, there was no way Jaune would be able to synthesise the necessary element to power the armour. Well, without access to high grade and expensive equipment, there was no way he was going to be able to build the armour anyway.

That gave him an idea though. Considering the proposed energy output of the reactor in the designs he would use that version the moment he could, but what if he could build the reactor and substitute the synth element for something else?

Maybe he could even get it to work with Dust.

Unfortunately, the only way he was going to get access to the parts he needed was through his school; meaning he would have to go to that bloody science and tech club.

There was nothing wrong with the club, but it didn't focus exactly on his expertise, making it somewhat boring. Not to mention it would seem odd after telling Miss Grant that he wasn't interested in going.

Looked like he'd have to swallow his words. _Just have confidence._

So it was with some trepidation that he walked into the main classroom of the technology building, which boasted quite a few classrooms with good quality machines that allowed teachers and students alike to craft many things.

He walked up to the teacher in charge and discussed joining the club, and was surprised to get a welcome invitation without having to sign paperwork or anything. Grateful, Jaune immediately began rummaging around the classroom for what he needed.

He had decided that the reactor would have to be built first, otherwise he would never be able to work any of the 'repulsor' tech that constituted some of the armour's main armaments... or actually power the armour at all.

He doubted he would be able to build anything that worked remotely well enough for powering weapons and awesome armour indefinitely, but it would be a start.

Look out power armour, Jaune is coming.

xxxx

"Are you sure?"

"Yep. I know you're his class' tutor, but you're quite new so decided you should know; this is the first club, or extra-curricular activity of any kind, that Jaune has expressed an interest in."

Aisha closed her mouth. Considering what Jaune had told her literally a couple of days ago, she wondered what could possibly have happened to change his mind.

"What did he do while he was there?" She asked the head of technology at the school, Mr Harrison, and consequently the teacher who ran the club and had let Jaune in.

"Another reason I thought you might want to know, I think the kid has an aptitude for tech, most people join the club because they want to get better, I'm pretty sure the only reason he joined was so he could have access to all of the tools and machines we have. He just grabbed a bunch of things and got on with building something, didn't talk to anyone or anything."

Aisha nodded along; while joining the club was out of character, the rest of it was Jaune down to a T.

"I'm not surprised, he knows more about electronics than I do. Could you tell what he was building?"

Mr Harrison looked surprised that a student knew more about a subject than one of the teachers, but answered regardless. "Sort of yeah, though it didn't make sense… it looked like he was building a Dust reactor, but on a miniature scale, and not in any way I've seen before."

"Hmmm…. Well, thank you for letting me know Mark, I'll keep an eye on him. In fact, I'll help with the club."

"Thanks Aisha, I've needed a second set of eyes for a while now."

xxxx

Jaune had underestimated the complexity of the reactor design. He honestly thought he'd be able to go to the club, make a reactor, and then never show up again, but of course it wasn't that simple.

Actually crafting the parts needed was insanely difficult, not to mention finding what he needed and being able to use the various tools and machines with a deft hand. Not only that, but while he thought he understood everything already, there were parts of the design that he was having trouble grasping, especially since he was trying to get it to work with Dust for the moment.

Needless to say, he had stuck the mini reactor in one of the project lockers and resolved to carry on whenever he could; once a week wasn't enough time to build it, he needed to ask a teacher if he could stay there after-school whenever it was free.

Considering Miss Grant was the one that suggested the club to him, he wondered if perhaps she would know how he would go about getting permission to use the tech lab whenever he wanted.

"What I need," he thought out loud on his way home, "is some high-quality Dust, fire and electric, enough to experiment with. A plasma cutter, a hydraulic press, some good quality tools, a few kilos of premium steel…"

"And what,"

"Brother,"

"Could you possibly need,"

"All of that for?"

Jaune looked up to find his younger twin sisters in front of him.

"Nadia? Hannah? What are you two doing here?" Jaune asked, seeing as he was in the town centre and it was starting to get dark. His sisters were in their usual goth getups, dark makeup, piercings galore, all black, weird clothes.

"Shopping for a party this weekend. Now, what do you need all of that stuff for?" Hannah all but demanded.

"Why do you care?" Jaune asked, though not harshly; Nadia and Hannah, while weird and not really his friends, didn't really despise Morrigan and him, they were just the odd ones out in the family (in a manner of speaking.)

"Cus it sounds dangerous, and despite what you may think we don't want you to kill yourself, accidentally or otherwise," Nadia explained.

On the one hand, that was kind of insulting, but on the other, the air did seem to be out to trip him.

"Well don't worry about it, I'm just building something," Jaune said. He wanted to keep his project secret for as long possible, the fewer people knew, the better.

"Uh huh, whatever, we've got outfits to buy. See you at school tomorrow," Hannah said, pulling Nadia along.

"You're not coming home?" Jaune asked, unable to keep the worry out of his voice. They were his younger sisters after all.

Hannah laughed. "Where have you been Jaune? We've been kipping round a friend of ours, since Kelly seems to have set her sights on us for now."

"Oh, fair enough, see you at school then."

xxxx

"Miss Grant?" Aisha whipped her head up in surprise to see Jaune standing before her desk. It was the end of school and all the other kids in the class had just filed out. She cast a critical eye over him, assured that he wasn't injured, and apparently even taller if that were possible.

He was taller than her by a good few inches now.

"Yes Mr Arc? How can I help?" She wondered what he could need her for, since she doubted he was about to describe his home situation to her or anything.

"I need a hand with something…" he trailed off looking a little embarrassed, so she motioned for him to go on. "I joined the tech club, like you said, and I've started on a… project, but I need _much_ more time in the lab to do it. Is there any way I can have permission to use the place after school on my own?"

While uncommon, it wasn't exactly rare for students to ask for extended use of facilities, so Aisha was comfortable with granting his request, but this was also an opportunity for her own investigations.

"I'm afraid Mr Arc that to just allow you to use the facilities without supervision is not possible, however!" She said loudly at seeing his face fall, "if you can prove to a teacher that you are safe to work in the tech lab environment on your own over a two-week period, then you can be issued a pass."

Jaune's face, while happier, was still not completely happy; she suspected he wanted to keep his project to himself.

"Okay thanks, do you know if there are any teachers who would be willing to do that for me?"

"Of course Mr Arc, I myself would be perfectly willing," Aisha responded kindly, smiling at the relief on his face. Why he was relieved she wasn't sure, but he nodded his assent, so she was happy. "We can start the evaluation tomorrow, I need to talk to my line manager first, is that okay?"

"Yeah, that's great Miss Grant, thanks," nodded Jaune, happy with the outcome.

"Excellent, see you tomorrow."

xxxx

He'd done it, and gotten Miss Grant as the supervisor. He'd expected that if it were possible a supervision period would be necessary, and was worried that it would be Mr Harrison, who would be able to figure out what he was working on, but Miss Grant wouldn't know, which was handy.

He needed the school supplies to experiment on first, otherwise he'd be wasting a whole lot of money on expensive materials. Once he'd gotten down building a low-quality reactor that would likely be more like a regular battery than what he wanted, then he could move on to the better stuff.

Funding was something he'd definitely have to think about, not to mention somewhere to work once he got the materials he needed, his own lab, if you will. Though how he, a fourteen-year-old, was going to make enough money to get the materials he needed, was another question.

Only time would tell.

xxxx

Jaune was approaching his house when he saw Morrigan open the door carefully and quietly. She spotted him and made her way over. "You alright sis?"

She swiped a hand through her slightly frizzy hair, releasing a long breath. "Yeah, just, dad's had a few and Jade's in a bad mood, you know?" Jaune nodded sadly, knowing how his family could get around him and Morrigan when alcohol was involved.

"Where you off to?" Jaune asked.

"I was gonna stay round Marie's, a fellow intern," she explained, though she carried on with another idea, "but I'll let her know I'll be late, come to dinner with me?" She asked with a smile.

Raised voices came from the house, and Jaune accepted by grabbing his sister's wrist and making them scarce, before one of them looked outside for Morrigan and decided to pick on the 'weaklings.'

They wandered around as the light faded, before settling on a Mistralian diner for their meal, pizza and pasta the cuisine of choice.

"So Jaune," Morrigan began once they'd eaten, much too casually for his liking, "what's this project you've been working on?"

Jaune sighed, "Who told you? It was Hannah wasn't it?" Morrigan nodded, and Jaune sighed again. "God that girl can't keep her mouth shut."

"I know right? But don't try and change the subject, what are you working on? I've barely seen you for the last three days." She reached over and put a hand on his, expressing her worry about his wellbeing. She became tactile when she was worried.

Jaune wondered if he should tell her, to be honest he wanted to, but he could admit to himself he was scared. For the first time in a while he had hope, he had a plan, he had something he could work towards that would allow him to become a Huntsman, to get away from his parents.

He didn't know if telling anyone would feel like giving up.

"Jaune?"

He took a deep breath. "The other day I discovered… something that would allow me to get away and become a Huntsman," Jaune said quietly, just in case. His sister's face lit up and she leaned forward.

"What is it?"

"It's a design for a power source and a suit of armour that doesn't run on Dust. It's honestly the most complicated piece of machinery I've ever seen, and you know what I'm like with that stuff. I've barely even figured out how to make a reactor prototype, let alone modify it to work with Dust for the time being seeing as the original design uses an artificial synthetic metallic element that I can't actually create yet…"

Jaune stopped himself when he saw he was rambling, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly at Morrigan's awestruck expression.

Confusion rose when her face morphed into a soft smile. "I'm happy Jaune, really, this is the most excited I've ever seen you," she said quietly. Jaune smiled in response, glad to know that Morri was behind him in this. "Not to mention I've never met anyone who understands this electronic stuff like you."

"Thanks Morri, I appreciate it."

"You're welcome Jaune. If there's anything you need just ask me, okay?"

"You got it."

xxxx

Jaune was so close he could almost taste it. His first reactor prototype was nearly finished, inefficient and poorly constructed as it was (a product of tool and material quality). He glanced over his shoulder at Miss Grant where she sat marking papers while he worked.

This was the last supervisory session; the last two weeks having flown by as Jaune focused on building the reactor and deciphering more of the information on the data storage device.

Morrigan had yet to return to the Arc residence, though with the amount of time she was now spending studying as the end of the school year approached that may not have been by choice.

Jaune was looking forward to and dreading the end of school. On the one hand, his time would be his to do with as he pleased, and he could make a start on building the infrastructure he needed for everything.

On the other, he would lose access to the school workshop, and so his ability to actually build anything would be severely restricted until he discovered, or created, another place to work.

His thoughts were interrupted by a steady hum. He looked down, not realising that he'd finished assembling the last part without concentrating. He'd gone over the designs so many times and in so much detail that that wasn't really a surprise though.

"Jaune?" Miss Grant walked over, attracted by the hum and the soft glow.

"I've finally finished," Jaune whispered, blinking away a happy tear. This was the first step. This was proof that he could do it. This was success that belonged solely to him, without the shadow of his family hovering over it like a dark could.

"What is it?" his teacher asked, enraptured by what he had created.

"… The Arc Reactor."

xxxx

Jaune eyed the house warily. No light spilled from the windows, and it seemed too quiet. The house was situated back from the street in the residential district of Inspire, with large trees blocking it from sight. All in all a nice place, if you didn't know what the inside was like.

His instincts were telling him that he should turn around, and he listened to them. He twisted and smacked straight into the last person he wanted to see, his sister Kelly. A hard shove and his arse hit the ground.

He glared up at her. "What do you want Kelly?" She smiled wickedly at him, blue eyes cold and malicious; Jaune wondered how his sister could be considered a Huntress, a protector of humanity, with such a cruel personality.

"Dad wants a word little brother… I suggest you oblige," she hissed. Left unsaid was that if he didn't then she would force him to. Painfully.

He climbed to his feet and slowly made his way to the house, noticing now that the door was ajar. He should have noticed that, otherwise he wouldn't be in this mess. He made sure not to take his eyes off his sister either.

Inside the house was dim, but not too dark to navigate. He was directed to the living room by a poke in the back.

A small fire caused flickering shadows, his father sitting in his armchair and waiting for him like a character out of story. Jaune could barely suppress the amused smirk that was struggling out.

"Jaune. I hear you've recently taken up a club at school. Which one?" James Arc was not one for beating around the bush; he preferred just beating.

"Science and tech club." Jaune responded simply and without offering more information than was asked for.

"Science and tech huh?" The man mused. He rose, all six feet of him stark against the fire. "I suppose of all the things a softy like you can do, that would be the most… enriching area to focus on, if you're actually good at it, that is?" Jaune nodded.

"You have proof?" Jaune felt his heart stop at the question; he did have proof, it was sitting in his backpack right now, he just didn't want to show it to his father, or to Kelly. If they figured out what it was beyond the obvious, why he had built it, then his dream would finally and irrevocably become forfeit.

But did he have a choice?

"I think you do, with a scared look like that," James chuckled, before becoming serious again disturbingly quickly. "Show me. Now boy."

Jaune could feel his hand shaking, not in fear as his father thought, but in anger, and desperation. There was nothing he could rely on here but sheer dumb luck. He reached into his backpack and pulled out the reactor.

James snatched it away, handling the reactor roughly enough that Jaune took a step back and felt his heart leap into his throat. His father took no notice.

"So you made a glowing light disc? That's it? And here I was getting my hopes up that you might actually be good at something. Still, it's better than nothing, so I will allow you to continue with your club, boy."

Jaune held his breath, waiting for the other shoe to drop. James tossed the reactor to him, which he caught gently and returned to his back pack. The man walked out of the room, and Jaune released a sigh of relief.

"Not so fast brother."

Shit. He'd forgotten about Kelly, which was a mistake in and of itself. "A bit more than a 'glowing disc' you've got there eh? Come on, what is it?"

Jaune hesitated in answering, and tensed up when his sister appeared beside him faster than he could follow and rested her hand next to his neck, fingers drumming his artery. He swallowed reflexively.

"It's… a battery. A prototype self-sustaining battery."

He held his breath, even when those dangerous digits removed themselves from his throat.

"I'm not sure if I you believe you Jaune, but I don't think you're lying entirely, so I'll let you off… this time." A fist buried itself in his gut and Kelly drove her heel into his back as he hit the floor.

"But lie to me again and I'll break you."

She left Jaune there to cradle his stomach and try not to throw up while getting his breath back.

As he lay there, he realised something. Jaune Arc would never become a Huntsman.

His family thought him weak and useless, and his father and sister actively blocked any of his attempts to improve himself. He was sure that the moment he showed any true aptitude that they could understand, they would rip his tech away from him.

They were probably planning it already.

It once against baffled Jaune how horrifically nasty his family members could be, and yet be considered heroes and defenders of the light by the average citizen. Hell, his father was bloody famous! An icon for kids across Vale!

Jaune Arc had no way of escaping his father's shadow, or his fist.

Jaune Arc would have to disappear.

xxxx

Jaune checked himself over, making sure he had everything. He couldn't survive and achieve his dream in Inspire; he needed to get away now. Perhaps it would have take longer for him to reach this point in a universe where that little storage device didn't land in his lap, and his electronics skills were allowed to fade into obscurity.

However, his chest burned here and now, the enormity of what he was about to do weighing on him. He hadn't kept his head down, and now he would suffer for it, unless he could escape.

His room looked oddly bare without all of his knickknacks cluttering it up. It occurred to Jaune that the room never really reflected him that well; everything that represented him was now bundled up in a large backpack.

"You're finally leaving then?"

Jaune whipped around, heart hammering to see Nadia standing there. "What are you doing here?" He demanded, harsher than he meant to.

"Just picking a few things up… you know there's nowhere in Inspire that they won't find you?" Jaune froze at an odd note in his sister's voice, that might have been concern, if he squinted and turned his head.

"I know. That's why I'm not staying in Inspire." He saw his sister's eyes widen; apparently the thought of him leaving the safety of the city was surprising.

He wasn't sure why; if he left he might get picked off by a Grimm, but if he stayed then Kelly would almost definitely go too far one day and either kill him or leave him comatose.

"Where will you go?"

Jaune snorted. "I'm not telling anyone that, not even Morri. The less people that know, the better."

"I can't fault that," Nadia said quietly. "Be careful."

Jaune looked at her oddly. "Are you feeling okay?"

"Yeah I just… ugh, whatever. Bye Jaune, be sure to let us know that you're still alive every now and then."

Nadia walked out and Jaune heard the front door open and close a moment later. He was a little disturbed by the odd situation, but shrugged it off. He had to leave now, he had everything he needed, and he had no need to say goodbye to anyone except Morrigan.

The front door sounded again, and Jaune Arc vanished.

xxxx

Morrigan Arc woke at the sound of a light tap, years of being prepared for her older sisters and looking after her younger brother making her a very light sleeper, which was useful for an intern.

She strained her ears, wondering what caused it, when it came again, from the window. She walked over to it, stepping lightly in case she woke her friend Marie in the next room, and looked out the window.

There, in the streetlight, was Jaune. He was holding his stomach, and Morrigan knew in an instant that someone (probably Kelly) had ruffed him up. She slid the window up.

"Jaune!" She shout-whispered, "what are you doing here?"

"I'm leaving Morri," he responded just loud enough for her to hear. She almost lost her grip on the window in surprise.

"What?! What do you mean you're leaving? Jaune?"

"I'm leaving Inspire. Kelly and dad found out about my project, and you know things will get bad the moment they figure out just what I'm doing." Morrigan could imagine that combination look of determination and fear that Jaune did so well.

"… Don't die out there Jaune," she said, knowing that she couldn't stop him. No, that she _wouldn't_. Jaune being the only boy in the family had it a lot worse from their parents, and if he felt he needed to run away from home, well, she wouldn't stop him.

No matter the danger.

"You've got it sis. I'll see you later."

And with that Jaune Arc disappeared into the night.


	3. Chapter 3

The Iron Knight

Disclaimer: See chapter 1.

xxxx

"… _and the last wave of Grimm was finally repelled by Huntsman John Jones, an Atlesian Huntsman who was dismissed with honours from the Atlesian Military to become a wandering Huntsman. The final number of casualties is 71, with nearly three hundred people injured._

 _This final Grimm attack on Inspire was incited by the rash of fear and anger brought on by the Arc Scandal. Famous Huntsman and Huntress James and Gail Arc, descendants of the famous General Hadrian Arc, were discovered to have severely abused several of their children._

 _Accusations were brought forward six months ago by school teacher Aisha Grant, who contacted authorities when Jaune Arc, their only son, disappeared. She feared that his parents may have actually killed him, and while no evidence of such was ever found, Jaune Arc is still missing…"_

"Sick ain't it?"

Jaune looked up from his scroll to the man a table across from him in the small café. He was a tall, well-built guy, very dark skin and black eyes, a shaved head with tribal tattoos adorning his scalp.

Jaune raised a questioning eyebrow.

"People like the Arcs, abusing their kids like that. Gives us Hunters a bad name, and makes everyone's jobs harder by drawing the Grimm in. Makes me sick."

Thankfully, Jaune looked nothing like the picture being shown of him. The picture was eight months old, taken by Morrigan when the two of them made it to the beach for a day. In it he stood about the same height as his sister, mid-length yellow blond hair and bright blue eyes.

He had grown since then, now hitting six foot two. He had filled out a bit, no longer being so skinny, his hair had been dyed honey blond, lighter blue contacts in his eyes, and a scraggly, dark blond, sort of goatee on his face; small changes that completely changed the way he looked, even at a glance.

Normally he would keep his face baby smooth, but a bit of facial hair changed the shape of his face enough to fool people, especially people that might be looking for him on behalf of his father.

He had settled quite a way away, a medium sized town within Vale's sphere of influence called Haddoway. He was living in a small bedsit, hiring himself out as a Scroll repairman; it was actually alright money, but every Lien was being saved so he could afford the equipment he wanted.

"I understand what you mean. Huntsman and Huntresses are supposed to protect people. This doesn't just attract Grimm, and neither is it just horrible. It dents people's faith in Hunters, making Grimm attacks even more likely in a vicious circle. It's not just sick; it's despicable."

Jaune's travelling and resettlement had not been particularly hard, but neither had it been easy, and he had seen things that put a whole new spin on his view of the world. He had seen poverty and Grimm attacks and their results. Luckily Vale was safe enough for a fair amount of travel between the major settlements, so he hadn't encountered any Grimm since the major paths were protected by Huntsmen and Huntresses.

Didn't stop him throwing up when he first passed the unfortunate souls that had encountered Grimm.

He had also made sure to look at the news here and there, to see if there was any new information on him.

"The name's Mako," the man introduced himself, joining Jaune at his table.

"John," the teen said, his cover name close enough to his real one for him to react to it.

"Nice ta meet ya John, you a Huntsman?" Jaune could smell the man's coffee from across the table, and wondered how his teeth weren't stained black.

"Someday I hope," Jaune replied evenly, "I'm guessing you're a local Huntsman?"

Mako leaned back and finished his coffee. "Yep, been here for nearly five years, ended up meeting the woman who would become my wife and stayed ever since. So what you doing while school's out? I'm assuming you go to High Tower?"

Jaune shook his head, wondering what had this man so interested. "Nope, never been to a Hunter school, and I don't go to civilian school anymore."

The man's smile flickered, but returned quickly. "Heh, so you think you go what it takes to make it to Beacon without even going to a Hunter school? Gotta hand it to ya, that takes guts kid," Mako laughed.

Jaune felt his hackles rise as Mako's stare became a lot more intense.

"So, _Jaune_ ," Mako began, and Jaune twitched violently, nearly launching himself out of his seat, but common sense told him it would be bad if it looked like he was running away from a Huntsman.

Criminals tended to do that.

"I'm guessing you've got something, something you think will level the playing field with the Hunter kids, else you wouldn't have found the courage to run away from home and make it on your own at the tender age of fifteen. Either that or you're dumb enough to think you've got a shot as you are."

Jaune felt his jaw drop. He wondered how on Remnant the guy managed to figure all of that out. The man snorted, the tension leaving his form and allowing Jaune himself to relax a little.

"I clocked you the moment you got into town kid, your disguise is good, nice and subtle, but I've been keeping an eye on the Arc case and I've seen more than one photo of you thanks to a couple sources."

Jaune eyed the man suspiciously. "Who are you exactly?" This guy was suddenly raising red flags in Jaune's mind.

"I guess Kelly and Jade never would have told you about our team then? Mako Armitage, the A of Team KAJU, aka Kaiju. Your sisters were a real piece of work, drove me and the final member of the team, Lan Ulu, crazy with their antics."

Jaune stared wide eyed at the man, at Mako, wondering how lucky he could get. "Yeah, Kelly and Jade never told us about their team, we were just grateful they were gone for those few years."

Jaune felt being honest was okay here, he had a good first impression from Mako and the guy didn't sound too thrilled with his sisters either.

"I get that, if knowing your sisters as well as I do didn't tip me off about their sibling's home life, seeing all that stuff on the news about your disappearance definitely did… have you got somewhere to stay for now Jaune?"

"Yeah, I'm renting a bedsit a little bit away from here, doing freelance Scroll work to pay the bills." Jaune told him, not actually giving the man an address. Just because Jaune reckoned he was a good guy, he had learned to be a little suspicious about people.

Unfortunately, he'd learned that a little closer to home than he would have liked.

"You know Scrolls? Heck, I thought only those Atlesian Tech Specialists had any idea how to do more than the basics with those things?" Mako looked impressed; Jaune had learned that knowing the amount he did about computing and software was actually really rare.

"Uh yea, well, since my family were… obstructive when it came to my dream of being a Huntsman, I found other things to interest me that they wouldn't be able to…"

"That they wouldn't be able to take from you?" Jaune nodded, and Mako sighed. "I get that, really. Kelly was the leader of our team at Beacon, and she was… difficult to follow at times. I've always been a front-line fighter, but she relegated me to support so she and Jade could take all the 'glory.' So, I understand, at least a little."

"Huh, I forget that my sisters have an entire world of people to inflict themselves upon," Jaune remarked dryly, Mako laughing loudly at the quip. Jaune got the impression he was one of those people who didn't have an indoor voice.

A comfortable silence fell over them for a moment. "Look Jaune…" Mako began, though he appeared to be struggling with the words. A sigh passed his lips before he continued. "I couldn't live with myself if I didn't help you out, being my teammate's brother, and having the guts to get away from your family to become a Huntsman, to follow your dream. I'll put it bluntly, you're chances of going to Beacon as you are, are very low, so…"

Jaune worked through what the man was saying for a moment, before feeling his jaw drop in disbelief. "Wait a moment, are you… offering to help me get into Beacon? To train me?"

Mako rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "Yeah. Molly, my wife, would love to meet you I'm sure. Look, I know we just met, but, well, I think you're a good kid, and I feel like you deserve a break having to put up with Kelly and Jade for so many years."

Jaune felt stunned for a moment, and swallowed thickly. "I think I'll take you up on that," Jaune said a little hoarsely, holding back his emotions. Mako heard them, and gave him a manly slap on the shoulder in support.

"That's the spirit." Mako stood up, and Jaune stood with him. "Well I've got to get to work, and I'm sure you do too. Meet me back here about five, you can come around for dinner. I'll see you later Jaune."

Jaune nodded. "See ya."

xxxx

"Well hey there! You must be Jaune, come on in honey," Jaune heard amidst a flash of blonde hair and then suddenly he was inside, his coat was taken, his shoes were off and he was being sat down at a table before he could blink.

"What just…?"

A loud laugh from next to him startled Jaune. Mako was sitting over from him at a small table in what he saw was a kitchen/dining room combo. White tiled floor, yellow walls, and a mass of blonde hair moving about almost faster than he could keep track, a babble of sound accompanying said hair as it dashed around the steamy kitchen.

"The moment Mako told me he'd met his evil bitchy teammate's little brother and that he had run away from home to get away from said evil sister just like that story I read when I was little about the servant girl that ran away from her ugly stepsisters and married a prince except you're a boy not a girl and you'd marry a princess I'd imagine not that I'm judging or anything it's just the vibe that I get from you…"

Jaune tried to get a word in, but the woman was relentless, and it didn't help that Mako was laughing at him. "Molly! Slow down a second would ya?" Mako shouted over the sound of his wife rambling and all the pots and pans she was bashing as she made dinner.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, I just get so carried away sometimes. It's nice to meet you Jaune," the woman said with a smile that Jaune could finally see. Under the voluminous blonde hair was a relatively pretty young woman with dark eyes and a natural tan, along with blindingly white teeth.

"Likewise, uh, Molly?" Jaune said with a questioning lilt at the end. Molly nodded at him that that was fine. "Would you like a hand with dinner?" Jaune asked courteously, after all he was an alright cook and it would be rude not to help.

He wasn't expecting her smile to suddenly turn disturbing… and dangerous. "That's okay sweetie, I like having my kitchen a certain way and don't like people making it… not a certain way. Okay? Awesome!"

Gone was the spine chilling aura and back was the hyperverbal blonde. Jaune kept his mouth shut and just nodded along before sitting down next to Mako.

"Damn I love that woman." Jaune looked at the man with an attempted raised eyebrow (he wasn't actually sure if he could raise just one eyebrow).

"You're insane, that was like… the third scariest thing I've ever seen in my life."

"What can I say? I'm an adrenaline junkie, it's half the reason I became a Huntsman," Mako said as he lounged in his chair.

"What was the other half?" Jaune inquired, wondering what drove a man like Mako.

Said man sat forward at that and sighed. "Truth is I just don't like bullies. I was really fat as a kid- yeah I know," he chuckled as Jaune goggled at him. Mako's muscles had muscles.

"As you can imagine, the little fat kid thinking he could be a Huntsman? Oh man did I get bullied. But here I am, protecting people from Grimm, and proving wrong everyone who doubted me."

"Wow," Jaune said, genuinely impressed. To achieve his dream in spite of everyone else; Jaune was starting to understand why he and Mako had hit it off so quickly.

"Here you go boys!" Molly came over somehow balancing three large plates with two thin arms, and set them all down. "Spaghetti carbonara! Dig in!"

Jaune looked up to say thanks only to see Mako and Molly already half way through their own meals and glowering at each other as they attempted to finish first. In a burst of worry, Jaune wondered what would happen if there was still food on his plate when they finished.

His stomach rumbled, and with a determined grimace he set about eating his own dinner. He had to fend off the occasional fork going for his food, but there was apparently more food still in the kitchen which the two would go after once he successfully fended them off.

The food was great, and Jaune said as much once the meal was finished, causing Molly to go off on another babble of nonsense that Jaune was slowly learning to filter out to understand what the woman was actually talking about.

Jaune promised Mako that he'd meet up with him at the weekend, and then made his way home. He went to sleep that night with a smile.

xxxx

Jaune panted, feeling like a dog more than a man as sweat ran down his back and arms. Any previous positive emotions he felt towards Mako were left back at the start of the dirt track the man was making him run round, again, and again, and again.

And again.

"Hunters have endurance! Stamina! Greater physicality than the average citizen! But this requires work! Run Jaune! Run!"

"I'm running!" Jaune half shouted half rasped back at the crazy man.

The thing that made the training so insane was not the amount of running, or even Mako's demotivational speeches. It was the fact that the moment Jaune slowed down, his sister's teammate would fire a shot at his heels with a small, and yet very real pistol.

And they were getting closer every time.

"Why the violence?! I thought you didn't like my sister!"

*BANG*

"I don't! But she did get results!" Came the all too happy reply.

After the running session, Mako made Jaune lift weights, stretch, and generally exercise every muscle he didn't know he had and then some he was sure he didn't have, despite their aching.

Once he was done with the three hour torture, he and Mako sat at their kitchen table while Jaune slowly sipped a glass of water, lest his stomach rebel.

"So," Jaune began, disturbing the silence, "why the extreme exercise? I've never seen a Hunter really have to maintain their athleticism before. Their skill, focus and technique yes, but nothing that requires high intensity workouts."

"What do you know about Aura?" Mako asked him in return, confusing Jaune. What did Aura have to do with it?

"Only that all Hunters have it, and it makes you harder to hurt," Jaune answered honestly. Mako nodded, as if he was expecting that answer.

"That's about what the average civilian knows, right?" Jaune shrugged, not knowing what others knew about it really. "Well, what they don't know is Aura is like a multiplier. It does act like a shield, but it also makes you stronger and faster, turns up your reflexes to the maximum, and allows you to shape and direct Dust."

Now, Jaune wasn't slow, and could see where Mako was going with this. "If it acts like a multiplier, then the stronger you are before activating it, the more it will benefit you. Why doesn't everyone do that?" Jaune knew for a fact that Hunters in training had their Auras unlocked the moment they started combat school, usually at age 11.

"Because it's not necessary. Aura is such a powerful force, that it makes children stronger than champion weightlifters and faster than footbound couriers. Why bother increasing the baseline if the end result is stronger than a regular human has any right to be?"

Jaune could easily see how a system such as that could fall into place. Back when the fight against the Grimm was a little more urgent, instant results like that, resulting in lots of powerful people without having to spend time training them up, would have been better than a few highly trained soldiers.

"So you'll unlock my Aura when I'm as physically fit as I can get without it?" Jaune asked, looking for clarification.

"… you want me to unlock it?" Mako asked, leaning back with wide eyes.

"Yeeaaahh?" Jaune asked slowly, wondering why he wouldn't.

"Blimey," Mako said, shaking his head. "Unlocking someone's Aura is a very… personal experience. It's usually done by close family members, though there are one or two people that unlock it on their own, though that takes some intense spiritual meditation and more time than you have."

Jaune absorbed that, and made a decision. "Then I'd definitely like you to do it." Seeing Mako's surprised look, Jaune explained. "Out of everyone I know that actually has Aura, you're easily the closest to actual family I've got. We may have only met a week ago, but, well…"

Jaune wasn't really sure how to put it. He looked up to Mako; the man was everything he wanted to be. If he were honest, Mako was the closest thing to a male role model Jaune had.

A large hand clapped him on the shoulder. Mako was grinning happily. "Then sure thing."

xxxx


	4. Chapter 4

The Iron Knight

Disclaimer: See chapter 1.

xxxx

 _(Six months after meeting Mako)_

"Hello?"

Jaune looked up from his workbench and raised his goggles, revealing the baby blues hidden beneath the blackout lenses.

"Hey Mako, you're back from Mt. Cherno already?" Jaune asked.

Mako stepped into the room that had become Jaune's workspace, mindful of the scraps of metal, dangerous tools, sheets of paper, scattered Dust crystals and general clutter that decorated the space.

He and Molly had offered Jaune a room to stay in three months ago, and in that time the basement had gone from a storage space/Grimm shelter into a complete underground ironworks.

"Yeah, turned out there was some two-bit circus wannabe that had captured a couple of Grimm somehow and started putting on shows, nearly brought a giant nevermore down on the townspeople. Still, he's all trussed up and the Grimm are gone, so it's all good."

"Awesome, how long will you be back for?" Jaune queried while putting his goggles back on and welding something on the workbench.

"About a month, I've got a few town patrols but I'm sticking in Haddoway for now. How's your project coming on? You've been working on this power source of yours the whole time you've been here," Mako asked, taking note of the tube that ran all the way around the basement, edge to edge.

"Actually, almost done," Jaune commented, lifting his goggles and holding up a circular device with a triangular slot in the centre.

"Seriously? That's awesome! What's left to do?" Mako asked excitedly; he hadn't really understood it all when Jaune explained what he was trying to accomplish, but he had latched onto the idea of Jaune making a 'powered weapon/armour flying thing.'

"Now all I have to do is synthesise the final component, and I will have a generator in the palm of my hand that can power the armour I intend to make. Here, take this; you're stronger than me and I'll need a hand."

Jaune handed Mako a large wrench, and directed him to wedge it onto an iron handle protruding from the tube, below which was an opening with a triangular white crystal inside.

"Okay, I will need you to direct the beam towards the little triangular piece of metal on the other side of the room; don't worry if anything gets damaged, just focus on your task!" Jaune said from a large lever.

"Wait what do you mean damage?" Mako asked loudly, suddenly worried about what Jaune was going to do to his basement.

"And GO!" Jaune pulled the giant lever.

"WAIT!"

Mako felt his entire body shudder as a blue beam of light flew around the tube faster than he could follow, and suddenly the beam was shooting out from the prism of crystal below his hands about six feet away from the target, burning a noticeable hole into his wall.

Desperate to stop his house from being damaged, Mako pulled on the wrench and directed the beam onto the metal triangle, which began to glow brightly, until, with a ringing left in his ears, Jaune switched off the power.

The triangle was still glowing, and Jaune walked over to it with a pair of tongs and the device he was welding earlier. He placed the triangle in, and the thing sealed up. It flickered a few times, and then after a second glowed with a steady blue light.

"Damn Jaune, what did you do?" Mako asked while worriedly tracing the black line that had been burned into the wall of his basement.

"I," Jaune said grandly, ignorant of Mako weeping quietly at the damage, "have just created a power source that doesn't rely on Dust."

It was an earth shattering moment, a proclamation to the world that Jaune had achieved the impossible, a monument to-

"Dinner's ready!"

It could wait until Molly's cooking had been thoroughly demolished.

xxxx

"You know people are going to want what you have, what you've made, right? I'd watch out for any Atlesian Military Personnel; they would do almost anything to get their hands on that little thing right there," Mako told Jaune seriously as the two calmed down from their daily workout.

"Yeah I know, but when I go to Beacon I'm not going to not use it, despite how much stronger I've gotten, and how much stronger I'll be when I have Aura, I still don't have the years of training that the others are going to have; that's half the reason I'm building my armour."

Mako rubbed his stubbly chin in thought. "I guess you're right; just try not to announce it to all and sundry unnecessarily, Hunters need their secrets you know."

Jaune chuckled. "You say that as if anyone would understand even if I did explain it."

Mako laughed too, grinning widely. "You're not the only person on the planet that knows about all this tech Jaune, remember that."

"Will do Mako. Will do."

xxxx

Jaune had a chest piece holding the power source, which he had decided to name an Arc Reactor (he made it, even if he didn't come up with the idea, therefore it is named after him).

The glowing blue circle on his chest was conspicuous, but hopefully he'd have the proper chest piece built soon.

He only had a year left to go before he would, with a bit of luck, attend Beacon. He had only just managed to build the boots for the suit design.

Although Jaune had made enough money to buy all of the materials he needed, especially thanks to Mako and Molly not asking for rent, it was still taking him a long time to actually build the damn armour, because whoever had designed it was a genius of the highest order.

It was taking Jaune weeks, and weeks, just to understand what exactly he was building before he could even attempt to smith, assemble, and wire the various parts, for even a single limb. Not to mention the costs involved.

He was hoping that now he'd built the boots, the rest of the armour would prove less daunting, though he had to test them to see if he'd actually gotten them right first.

The other thing, which he constantly had nagging at the back of his mind, was how he was going to control the armour. He honestly wasn't sure how anything short of an A.I. – an honest to god sentient computer – would be capable of managing the sheer functionality built into the armour.

xxxx

"Ok, this is Test-01 for Iron Knight boot iteration 1, powered by prototype arc reactor, controlled by pilot. Let's start off nice and easy at fifty percent power. In 3, 2, 1…"

Jaune hit the button on his scroll that would activate the boots' thrusters. Faster than he could think the boots pushed him up and backwards to slam face first into the wall ten feet away.

"Ow."

Uproarious laughter grated on his ears, and to his bloody nosed annoyance there stood Mako at the entrance to the basement with his scroll recording, genuine tears of laughter wetting the corners of his eyes.

Twenty minutes later and Mako had stopped laughing and Jaune was ready for his second test; though Mako standing there and blatantly recording was wholly unnecessary.

"Ok then, this is test Test-02 for Iron Knight boot iteration 1, powered by prototype arc reactor, controlled by pilot. We're gonna go with five percent power this time, in 3, 2, 1…"

He hit the button, and this time there was much less of a jolt and more of a smooth rise into the air. Jaune could feel the giddiness of success rise up into a laugh, which unfortunately unbalanced him and threw him head over heels into the floor.

"Just keep going Jaune, this is comedy gold; I can blackmail you with this for the rest of your life," Mako crowed unrepentantly.

To Jaune's consternation, it wasn't until test eleven that he realised he would need the gloves to stabilise his flight, which presented a nigh insurmountable wall unfortunately.

Control.

It was bad enough writing a program that interacted with the boots from his scroll and allowed him to manually adjust the power settings; Jaune honestly wasn't sure how he was going to do this.

Time was running out, and Jaune had no idea how to continue.

xxxx

"Professor? Hello?"

"Ah, Mr Armitage, what an unexpected surprise," commented the headmaster of Beacon Academy Professor Ozpin, staring at Mako imperiously, even through the scrolls they were talking on.

"Hey Professor, how's things?" Mako asked somewhat nervously; while he was an adult now, Ozpin used to be his teacher and was still considered one of, if not the strongest Huntsman on the planet.

"… As well as ever when it comes to corralling super powered teenagers, as I'm sure you recall. Need I mention the third year Bathroom Band Practice incident?"

Mako rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment and felt a light sheen of sweat begin to develop. "I'm, uh, sure I don't know what you're talking about Professor."

"… Indeed," Ozpin commented with a masterfully raised eyebrow of disbelief. "Either way, to what do we owe this chat?"

Mako swallowed, not knowing how the old headmaster would react. "I'd like to sponsor a kid into Beacon, if I can, I'm not sure if there's any sort of procedure for this sort of thing you see so I…"

"Mr Armitage, I can assure you that if they pass a simple written exam and you vouch for their combat ability, any student would be welcome. Who is it?"

"Ah, see, now, that's where it gets tricky Professor-"

"Would I be correct in my assumption that the child in question is Jaune Arc?"

At Mako's dumbfounded, jaw dropped expression of surprise and disbelief, Ozpin nodded sagely.

"I paid close attention to the Arc scandal Mr Armitage, and even interviewed both Jade and Morrigan, so I know that Jaune created something that gave him the courage to run away. It does however, weigh on my heart that I was unaware of the cruelty Jade showed her siblings, and her team. My apologies."

"Uh, gee, thanks Professor, but it ain't nece-"

"That said, I would like to meet Jaune myself at some point before I accept him into Beacon next year."

"Of course Professor, thank you so much, honestly."

"Anytime Mr Armitage."

xxxx

 _(Six months until entrance to Beacon)_

"Come on Jaune, you can do better than that!" Mako shouted at the shaking, sweating teenager before him.

At the comment Mako saw Jaune's baby blue eyes set with determination, and prepared himself for another bout of combat.

Mako watched as Jaune readied his weapons. To any regular person, the use of a sword and kite shield meant that there were plenty of different styles to absorb and learn from, however, Jaune just had to be different.

The kite shield was nearly as tall as Jaune was and very thick and heavy. Include the fact that it mecha-shifted between said shield form and a manoeuvrable armour covering his entire left arm, you have a highly diverse piece of defensive equipment considering its traditional simplicity. The point of the kite was quite sharp too.

The sword was also quite long, and thick like a claymore. This was due to the fact that it extended from Jaune's forearm and the somewhat lighter armour covering said arm than the other arm. It also was made of many segments, which could semi-detach and turn into a giant metal whip.

Of course, this meant that all normal sword styles were completely useless for the kid to learn, and Mako had to help him develop an entirely unique one that utilised his sword's odd position of extending from the wrist above his hand.

Combine this with the fact that both of Jaune's hands were nigh completely free, and had projectile weapons built in the palms, as well as his boots' ability to allow him to accelerate and change direction very quickly with quick bursts, (sustained flight of any kind was a long way away apparently), and well…

It was a marvellous piece of engineering that Mako was sure very few, if any, on Remnant were capable of replicating, let alone understanding. As it was, just the bits of the armour that Jaune had currently built would allow him to stand toe to toe with most Signal students of an equivalent age.

All without Aura.

It was almost baffling to Mako that Jaune constantly commented on how incomplete the armour was, how he had to manually activate the different functions using buttons built into his gauntlets, how he needed a computer program of some sort.

Contemplations aside, Mako dodged to the side as Jaune crashed into his position, having used a boost from his boots to launch into the air and attempt to bisect him from above.

Jaune swiped up from the ground, using the momentum of the sword to attempt a shield bash as Mako stepped back. Mako grabbed the top of the shield and pulled it further than Jaune was expecting, causing him to misstep.

Mako brought the pistol in his hand round to hit Jaune in the face with the butt, but the shield shifted and the gun rebounded off the armour now covering Jaune's arm, which he had swung up in defence.

Mako jumped back, avoiding the attempted counter stab, but found himself surprised as instead of closing in Jaune span on the spot, and had to hastily duck the sword turned whip.

Limbo-ing under the arc of the swing, Mako rushed forward and slid around Jaune's re-shifted shield, point facing where Jaune thought he was going to end up. Instead the heavily panting blond was forced to surrender thanks to the gun resting under his chin.

"You're doing much better than you were at first Jaune. I know it doesn't feel like much, but trust me, your skill with those weapons has sky-rocketed over the last few months." Mako said, seeing the way Jaune's fist was clenched.

"Yeah, I know. Thanks Mako," Jaune said quietly, brooding as he took a drink and made his way inside to a shower.

Mako sighed, knowing exactly what was bothering Jaune; good was never good enough, hell, Mako wasn't sure perfection would even be good enough for Jaune.

The kid had told him that he'd hit a roadblock on making his armour; there was apparently no point in building anymore of it if he didn't have a computer program capable of controlling it all.

Mako had suggested that Jaune begin to focus on actually learning to fight now that he had the main weapons he would be using. While at first the kid had jumped at the opportunity, the fact that Mako was always able to beat him was grating on the kid.

At that moment, Mako made a decision; he would need to find someone willing to give Jaune an exhibition fight, someone for Jaune to measure himself against that wasn't an already qualified Huntsman nearly a decade his senior.

Mako and Jaune were going to the Vale Under-17s Regional Tournament.

xxxx

"LADIES AND GENTLEMAN! WELCOME TO THE VALE REGIONAL KNOCKOUT TOURNAMENT!"

Tournaments were a steadily rising form of entertainment around the world, though the practice was main stream in Mistral, where tournaments had been held for years; Vale had the second biggest tournament, as Atlas' military style Hunter training facilities tended to frown upon showmanship, and Vacuo was just too disorganised for anything major, though their underground fighting scene was supposedly strong.

Vale, the city, had enough space to build a stadium; though nothing like the Amity Stadium that flew around Remnant. While not as popular or well known as the Vytal Festival, it was a regular bright spot for the citizens of Vale and a chance for the Hunters in training to show off their hard earned skills.

"Oh yeah, who's the man?! I'm the man!"

"But you're a girl."

"Still more manly than you dad."

"Gee I can feel the love for your old man. Where did I go wrong with you?"

"What do you mean wrong?"

Ruby Rose sighed as her father and sister argued about how manly Yang was, or something. The sheer number of people surrounding her was only offset in uncomfortable-ness by the fact that many of the Signal students, as well as hopefuls from other schools and continents, were walking around with their weapons in full view.

This would be her first time fighting in the Vale Regional Tournament, since the Under-17s was only open to 14-16 year olds. She fully expected Yang to win this year, sine she had only just been beaten out by a 16 year old Signal student last year that was now too old.

"Hey! Mr. Xiao-Long!" All three of the family looked up to see a large black guy walking up to them with a big smile, waving enthusiastically.

"Ah, Mr Armitage, nice to meet you." Ruby and Yang shuddered; their dad's 'adult' tone usually either meant they were in school or they were in trouble. Either way, it was generally bad.

"Just Mako, please," the man said easily, obviously uncomfortable with an adult sounding Xiao-Long too.

"Then call me Tai. So where's the kid Oz told me about?" Tai asked, looking around. From behind Mako came a guy with dark blond hair and pale blue eyes, with some stubble in a rough goatee, impressive for a guy who looked to be about Yang's age.

"This is John, I spoke to Professor Ozpin and asked if he could participate in the tournament; I've been homeschooling him and figured the tournament could give him a measuring stick that isn't, well, me."

"Hi," John said, giving a small awkward wave. Ruby noticed that he was really tall, as tall as her dad and nearly as tall as this Mako guy.

"Hi yourself buster, don't think for a minute you've got what it takes to win this thing, you hear me? There's a Xiao-Long victory waiting at the end of this, guaranteed." Yang said with her usual easy confidence.

Her smirk was apparently infectious though, as John grinned in return, obviously looking forward to the fighting. "Well, I'm good at ruining people's expectations. I'll see you in the tournament."

Yang grinned, glad to meet someone that wasn't a wimp for once. "You'd better, _John;_ There's only room for one blond at the top."

"Cool your hormones Yang," Tai said as he gripped the back of her shirt.

"WHAT?!" Yang exploded, a light dusting of pink in her cheeks at the insinuation. A quick glance showed John was blushing too. _God I'm so embarrassed._

"I don't get it, what have hormones got to do with anything?" Ruby asked innocently, sending her dad into peals of laughter.

The family moved off after a moment, leaving Jaune and Mako to stare after them as they teased and argued with each other.

"Well, that was... different," Jaune said after a moment, though Mako detected an odd note in his voice.

"You alright?" Mako asked, hoping Jaune wasn't getting nervous.

"Yeah, just, seeing Yang and Ruby made me miss Morrigan, you know?" Jaune said, smiling sadly, yet there was hidden steel in his gaze that Mako approved of. He gave Jaune a hearty slap on the back.

"One day Jaune, one day you'll stand head and shoulders above the greatest Hunters Remnant has ever seen, if only to protect those you care about. Keep that determination, and remember what you fight for, and I promise everything will turn out alright in the end."

A moment of silence passed between the two, despite standing among bustling crowds.

"That almost sounded prophetic coming from someone like you," Jaune said a second later, breaking the moment and causing Mako to turn to Jaune angrily.

"You want to go a couple of rounds before the tournament starts?" Mako asked menacingly, to which Jaune shook his frantically. "That's what I thought. Now, give 'em hell."

"Hey Mako?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks."

"No worries kid."

xxxx


End file.
